Brandenburg (Germany)

Brandenburg, a province of Prussia, which included Berlin until 1 April 1881. In the eastern part of the province, in Netzebruch, there was at Brenkenhoffswalde near Driesen a Mennonite congregation founded in 1765 by 35 families from the Culm lowlands (West Prussia), but extinct in 1834, since most of its members had immigrated to South Russia. A second Mennonite immigration into Brandenburg principally from West Prussia occurred after 1870 and led to the settlements near Berlin, especially in Schöneberg (1910, 63), Charlottenburg (1910, 50), Rixdorf-Neukölln (1910, 28), and Deutsch-Wilmersdorf (1910, 29), all now parts of Berlin. The membership grew steadily, as shown in the census statistics (the official source, Preussische Statistik).

District

1880

1885

1890

1895

1900

1905

1910

Potsdam

14

21

58

108

159

182

302

Frankfurt

4

9

18

18

8

12

26

Total

18

30

76

126

167

194

328

The great preponderance of men is conspicuous (1910, 189 men, 139 women), and is explained by the immigration of young men working and studying in the city. The Brandenburg Mennonites belong to the Berlin congregation.